


Kindness of a Stranger

by I_was_here_once



Series: A Series of Drabbles [1]
Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: First Meeting, Gen, a strange piece of stone, at least three, family issue, gratuitous use of quotes, post Lemony's fake deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 02:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14298354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_was_here_once/pseuds/I_was_here_once
Summary: Lemony Did Actually Have the Pleasure of Meeting Olivia Caliban





	Kindness of a Stranger

Olivia was sitting on the steps of the courthouse. Eyes closed and knees hugged to her chest, she was hoping no one would notice her. She could be sitting inside, but the idea of having to sit quietly while her relatives glared at her seemed galling.  
She had tried to leave earlier that year. She had tried to take her life into her own hands at the age of twenty-two. She had packed her things, gathered her spare cash, and had gone to a hotel.  
The next day when she went to the bank, to get the rest of the money she had saved and kept, in hopes of one day being free, she found it was all gone.  
She had broken into tears in the middle of the lobby. A helpful policeman had taken a statement, the bank president had gotten involved, and a lovely woman held her while she cried.  
She had to go back to her parents.  
They had gloated.  
Two weeks later the police arrived and informed Olivia her parents had pulled the money out of the account, and asked if she would like to press charges. She asked the policeman to stay with her while she asked for the money back.  
They refused, and Olivia was escorted to the town hall where she filed charges.  
Which lead her to this point in time.  
“I am sorry, ma’am, but that particular spot you are sitting on once involved an interesting case.”  
The tone was dry, and Olivia looked up to see a large man in a dress shirt and suspenders holding a camera.  
Olivia’s mind distractedly noticed he seemed to keep his face down and away from the guard at the door.  
“What sort of interesting case?” Olivia asked, moving to the side and gathering up her coat.  
“The kind involving a ring, a lion, the Duchess of Winnipeg, and the improper uses of various shovels.”  
“This spot was involved in all that?” Olivia asked. She looked down at the worn stone. There were several cracks and chips. It didn’t look particularly spectacular.  
“Nothing ever really looks as spectacular as it actually is.” He held up his camera and took a picture of the stone with a blinding flash. “The spectacular things are often spectacular due to the fact they were never expected to be spectacular.” He pulled out a small notebook and ripped a page from it.  
“May I ask what drove you to sit outside on a dreadful day instead of inside with all those dreadful people?” The man laid the paper on the corner of the stone and started rubbing charcoal on the paper vigorously.  
“I hadn’t noticed the day.” Olivia glanced at the cloudy sky, and noticed the chill and damp. “The judge is reviewing my case, and I decided I had caused enough offense to my family and removed myself from their presence.”  
“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” The man glanced at Oliva. “Especially extended, though I believe only two of the descriptors fit your family. They are the loud group of people in black? The fraud case?”  
“George Burns.” Olivia smiled. “And yes.”  
“Impressive memory, librarian?”  
Olivia nodded.  
The man took the paper and slid it into his trouser pocket. He took a moment, and looked at Olivia. He nodded and turned to leave before turning back.  
“You know, someone once said “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.””  
Olivia swallowed. “Winston Churchill.”  
He nodded. “Here’s another, “The secret to happiness is freedom… And the secret to freedom is courage.”  
“Thucydides."  
The man had a bit of a twitch on his face, which Olivia thought for a moment was a smile. “The world got a little better when you chose courage ma’am”  
Olivia stood stock still for several minutes. Nothing had really changed. She had turned on her parents. She was going to be cast out. Yet, Olivia felt lighter. She remembered one of her own favorite quotes.  
“The words of kindness are more healing to a drooping heart than balm or honey.”


End file.
